Teaching Through Play

A Bit of a Change

I have been struggling what to write this week. I like to write about events, thoughts, or subjects that have been helpful or on my mind recently. Not that anything awesome hasn’t been going on with my kiddos- they do amazing things every day. But I haven’t been wanting to write about just them. I am going to spend some time re-branding my blog, I may not post as much on here for a few weeks so I can focus on the design, content to post and things like that. This post is going to be a bit different. A bit less about education and a bit more about me.

You can still see updates on Instagram and Facebook. I’m not going completely silent, I just won’t be posting every week on here.

To Start

Looking though my Instagram (if you aren’t following you totally should!) I see a few topics: risk taking play, outside play, process or product, and enjoying the moment. I talk about the benefits of outside play here. I’m saving risk taking play for when I have more research done, but I have shared some lovely posts on my Facebook page (which you should go like 😉 ) I want to elaborate on this post.

Although I spend quite a bit of time on Pinterest, I get self-conscious that my content on here, Instagram, and Facebook isn’t up to par with the wonderful content already on there. I don’t create my posts with the intention of being an instant hit (although that would be nice). Pictures are a big part of what I enjoy. I love capturing the moments and memories during the day for the parents so they can still feel a part of their child’s day. My views and approaches are nontraditional. I love being able to toss in a different view on early childhood than what is popular right now. I hope that the content I create helps and/or inspires others to make a change in how they view early childhood.

Social Media

Social Media and technology is almost a double-edged sword; I want my content to be the best, an instant hit for everyone but I also want to show the truth, that life is messy and not everything can be done to Pinterest-standards. Finding the line to straddle between unrealistic Pinterest expectations and real life is actually quite difficult. I want to share my words with as many people as possible, but to do that Pinterest is one of the best tools out there.

Even with these expectations I still create content. The content I create is content that I want to create, not becasue it is what everyone else is doing. I teach in a nontraditional way because it is how I want to teach, not how others think I should. I try to teach holistically and meet each child at their own level. Dangerous play is my favorite. I encourage risk taking and think it happens best when exploring outside. Sometimes those things aren’t Pinterest worthy.

Change

I want this blog to be a reflection of me and my beliefs and not a reflection of what will get me the most pins and shares. I still want to post education bits, but I also want to post bits about life and projects I work on. There might be posts in the coming weeks that are more of an insight into my life and views as an Early Childhood Educator. There may be posts about other things happening in my life, not relate to Early Childhood. Right now, I want to focus on making content that I love and is enjoyable to write rather than content that feels more like a chore.

I posted this on my Instagram, but I love this song. It inspires me to enjoy the little moments which is how I approach teaching.

If there is something you think I should write about, or you are curious of my opinions, let me know in the comments, message me on Instagram or Facebook, or send me on email. All of those links can be seen here.

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Hi! My name is Kayla. I am a preschool blogger from Wyoming! I graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. I am a coffee fanatic and work a a local elementary school.